Chapter Twenty-Two
The leaders of the Sentience were carbon frozen as part of the effort to stop the corruption of the Republic but Dantius and his friends knew that wasn't enough. If they were to return at the point in their plan where their return was required without a contingency plan against their own corruption. So while Dantius toured the most powerful worlds affiliated with the Sith with his niece, Ashlynn and Inoy approached the Chancellor and the Grandmaster of the Order with their own request. They wanted to ask approval to have Dantius, Ashlynn, and Inoy carbon frozen as well as that if Mathes, Arek and the other leaders of the Sentience needed to be countered by people of experience similar to their own then they could be.
Needless to say, the Chancellor was more than a little reluctant about the idea of freezing Ashlynn, Dantius, and Inoy. "Absolutely not, I need people who can rebuild the Republic and warriors who can enforce and protect the peace to follow. If I freeze all the best of the Jedi Order, what hope will we have?" the Chancellor demanded.
"The hope you have is that you'll have three Jedi who can teach others to guard the Guardians when they are needed. You see, the Sentience's plans involve a number of things that the Republic citizenry would consider unethical yet necessary to the continuation of the Republic. By its design, it is meant to stop the corruptions of the Dark Side when and where perceived by any means necessary but what's to stop its members from being corrupted? Who's to say that honoring the Sentience's plans won't, in time, make them every bit as dangerous as the Sith especially without a contingent of Jedi who know their ways and can stop them? Dantius, Inoy, and I know the ways of the Sentience as well as their weaknesses which means that we're in the best position to recognize their movements and stop them anyway we can," Ashlynn explained.
"But the only way we can do that for sure is if we are in the fighting condition needed to stop them if they should re-emerge and turn out to be a source of corruption. They're the blade that is to be wielded in the darkness where no other can go but a shield is needed when that blade is doing too much damage. Besides, Dantius is working on a way that they can be legally removed from their positions by the Republic, perfectly justifying any physical force taken against them if we should have need it," Inoy added.
"You don't mean...?" the Chancellor began.
"Dantius has automated data systems that record each instance of the Sentience declaring a plan completed in their databanks within mere moments of them entering it. He didn't hack into their databanks but acquired Mathes' approval to be allowed to monitor the plans of the Sentience in return for helping them outside of the network. The terminals themselves are connected almost exclusively to Sentience channels for that reason and he can tell us how much time we'd have to stop the Sentience instantly, should they need stopping," Ashlynn told him.
"Don't you realize that data will implicate me in crimes against the citizenry?! If word of this were to leak, I would be barred from the office, perhaps even arrested for condoning their actions to start with and with my reelection already tenuous as it is!" the Chancellor informed them.
"That is a risk that we have to take if we are to make sure the Sentience is actually doing their job with as minimal endangerment to our citizens as possible. They've suffered through decades of war as it is and deserve some measure of peace before their lives end," Inoy replied.
"Plus the end of the war means it's time you started actually giving a kriff about the demands of your constituents rather than the demands of your bankers. Yes, you have war debts incurred and yes the citizenry will have to help you out but don't make it anymore difficult for them than it already is. Remind them that you were the Chancellor who ended the war, persuade the wealthy to pay the higher percentage of debts incurred for the first ten years, and another term is assured for you as long as this information never surfaces to the light," Ashlynn bluntly stated. The Chancellor looked like he wanted to say something back to her on her comment of caring about the people for a change but quickly gained his composure when he spoke again.
"Fine, I'll grant this request as long as you understand that all of you are only being frozen for ten years. I can't guarantee anything past the end of my term as Chancellor and only if I am re-elected again can I expect to approve you being frozen. Will that be sufficient?" the Chancellor asked.
"Should be, Dantius intends to ensure his niece is instructed in the ways of the Jedi by a good Master. The plan is for her to then instruct her foster brother in the ways of the Force so that his power can be used to stop the Sentience and other threats," Inoy answered. Ashlynn, who had become crude and blunt since being thrown into the war for the first time when the Vornu Crisis had yet to happen. She used to worry about etiquette whenever she was on missions but sometimes didn't hold on to her composure even when she was a Padawan under Lorn Kenau. As a Lorrdian, it was absolutely essential and though her skills of body language understanding were beyond even most of her people, she no longer cared for how her words affected them (by and large).
"And what is this boy's power, might I ask?" the Chancellor asked.
"Do you know the story of Meetra Surik? He's got her power," Ashlynn snapped quickly. Inoy elbowed her lightly but she shrugged, the damage being done already if the Chancellor knew who Meetra Surik was. But his body language revealed to her that the name glazed over his mind and as such, they were safe.
"I know the name but nothing else. Must be quite something to have such special emphasis placed on that family," the Chancellor admitted.
"Morgause used to be Sith but defected to aid Hyperion and agreed to train with the Jedi in return for a drop of all charges. Fortunately, she hasn't committed any crimes that wouldn't be so dismissable thus we really caught her in the nick of time," Inoy admitted. The Chancellor gave up, raising his arms and shrugging his shoulders in concedement to their wishes.
"Then may the Force be with us. I hope for all our sakes that we never need to stop the Sentience or reveal any of their activities to the Republic. Dismissed," he said finally, the Jedi showing themselves out after bowing in respect to him.